Why is it that kit coilover springs and shocks just don't look like the
real thing? The mold line down the center never helps, but the big problem is
that you can't see through the spring. You can detail paint them, but that can
get tricky. Here, I would like to present a technique I discovered just
recently.

While working on a Revell Harley Dyna-Glide, I decided the kit coilover
springs weren't going to cut it. I usually make shocks from aluminum or brass
tubing, 2 sizes that telescope make nice looking shocks. This technique could be
used on a Harley as some of them have covered spings, they just look like
large-diameter shocks. Coil springs are very easy to make too. A bit of wire
wound around a rod works just fine. I wanted a set of shocks with the rod
visible though.

Then I hit on the idea of using some styrene coated wire that I bought a
while back. It works great.

Here's the technique...............

Obtain some styrene covered wire from the hobby shop, in
a diameter that closely approximates the diameter of the shocks you want
to make. I didn't measure what I used, but it's about 1/16" diameter. Use
a section of the wire as a form for the spring. For coilovers I prefer 24
guage bead wire, I'm sure other materials would work to, and the silver
wire can be polished or left a natural metal color. Wind the bead wire
tightly and close together onto the form.

Once you have a fair length wound (you might make some
extra to save this step later), you'll need to seperate the coils. I do
this with my thumbnail, putting my thumbnail into the groove between
windings, and just turn the form. It's sort of like a screw, your nail
will follow the wire, and spread the windings out a bit. This can also be
done with a piece of sheet plastic the thickness you want the spaces to
be. Just slide it in between the windings, press down, and turn. Slide it
carefully off of the form when you are done.

Next, cut a section of the styrene covered wire the
length you need for your shock, use a kit piece for a reference (assuming
one is available). A little over halway down the length of the rod, you
want to cut off the styrene covering. Mark the line and carefully cut
through the styrene with a hobby knife. Just press into the plastic and
turn the rod, the plastic will cut easily - the wire core will
not.

Now gently slide the styrene covering from the wire. Be
careful not to ruin the piece you slide off, it will come in handy
later.

Once the covering is removed, you can see there is a
"shock body" with a "piston rod" protruding from it. At this point the
shock body (the fat part) can be painted the color of your
choice.

The trickiest part of this technique is making the
"spring retainers". These are simply plastic (or metal) discs that keep
the springs from sliding off of the shock body and rod. These can be made
with a punch set - punch them out of sheet plastic - or thin slices of
metal tubing (plastic tubing is too thick to look right). For the tubing
method, find a piece of tubing that slides tightly over your coated wire
and cut thin slices from it. The next smaller size tubing should also be
at hand because the fit on the rod will be very loose.A smaller size
tubing is handy here to fill the gap, though there are probably other ways
around that problem.

The covering that was removed to expose the wire is shown
here, cut into short lengths to act as shock eyes - you'll need one for
each end. The "spring retainer" disc has been slid over the shock body, as
well as the "spring" being slid over the body and rod and cut to length.
Paint the shock "eye" and "retainer" disc to match the shock
body.

Add the disc and eye to the other end, and your shock is
finished, except for final painting.

The spring winding technique also works for regular coil springs. Just
use a larger form, use the kit piece as a guide, and slightly heavier wire (20
guage bead wire works nicely).

For the Revell Harley I was talking about at the beginning, I cut both ends
off of the kit parts and spliced the new shock/spring combination in the middle.
It was the easiest way to get the distinctive look of the mounts.

For shocks on most cars, you'll want to round off the top of the shock body
to avoid a square-edged look. Evergreen styrene tubing and some music wire can
also be use for this technique if you can't find the styrene covered wire. This
is actually a better choice for shocks that won't have the spring surrounding
them, it makes it easier to round off the top and has the added bonus of only
requiring liquid cement for assembly instead of super glue or epoxy.